3o 


J)  X D ^ v vv> . 

X 


iRare  prahlptttH  aub  tlmr 
. . . Olljrtstiau  Solution . . . 


j^wntott 

BY 

REV.  H.  P.  DEWEY,  D.D. 

DELIVERED  AT  THE  ANNUAL  MEETING  OF  THE  AMERICAN  MISSIONARY 
ASSOCIATION,  HELD  IN  DES  MOINES,  IOWA. 

OCTOBER  16,  1904. 


RACE  PROBLEMS 

AND  THEIR  CHRISTIAN  SOLUTION 


SERMON 

BY 

REV.  H.  P.  DEWEY,  D.D. 

Pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Pilgrims, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


DELIVERED  AT  THE  FIFTY-EIGHTH  ANNUAL  MEETING  OF  THE 
MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION,  HELD  IN  DES  MOINES,  IO\V> 
October  16,  1904. 


American  Missionary  Association, 

287  Fourth  Ave.,  New  York,  N.  Y. 


AMERICAN 


1904. 


Race  Problems  and  their  Christian  Solution 


‘‘And  they  went  down  both  into  the  water.” — Acts  viii : 38 


It  seems  appropriate  and  opportune  that  the  fifty-eighth  annual 
meeting  of  the  American  Missionary  Association  should  be  held  in 
this  capital  city,  because  of  the  historical  relations  existing  between 
the  region  hereabouts  and  three  at  least  of  the  peoples  to  whom  we 
extend  the  helping  hand.  In  the  mighty  struggle  for  the  liberation 
of  the  black  man  no  state  bore  a more  honorable  record  than  the  one 
whose  hospitality  we  are  sharing  to-night.  Indeed,  it  is  said,  that  at 
the  outset,  when  the  call  came  for  troops,  the  citizens  here  were  indig- 
nant because  they  were  asked  to  contribute  but  one  regiment.  Again, 
this  commonwealth  is  a very  rich  portion  of  that  vast  territory  ob- 
tained from  Napoleon  for  a song,  the  purchase  of  which  is  being 
celebrated  with  no  little  self-congratulation  in  a neighboring  city.  If 
it  be  asked  what  pertinence  that  fact  has  in  this  connection,  let  it  be 
remembered  that  the  Highlanders — in  the  persons  of  their  forefathers 
— more  than  a hundred  years  ago,  under  the  lead  of  the  Boones  and 
the  Seviers  and  the  Clarkes,  penetrating  the  goodly  land  bounded  bv 
the  Cumberland  and  the  Ohio  and  the  Tennessee,  and  seeing  the 
advantage  of  unrestricted  traffic  through  the  Father  of  Waters,  and 
catching  an  alluring  vision  of  the  mighty  domain  beyond,  were  in  a 
sense  the  first  promoters  of  the  shrewd  and  gigantic  sale.  The  only 


3 


tarnish  upon  their  sagacity  and  courage,  the  blemish  also  upon  the  Gov- 
ernment which  was  behind  them,  was,  that  as  the  bargain  was  struck, 
they  were  not  very  mindful  of  the  rights  of  those  who  held  the  original 
title  to  the  land, — conduct  quite  in  contrast  with  their  later  refusal  to 
swing  the  lash  upon  the  back  of  a slave  and  with  all  their  noble  loyalty 
to  the  Union  cause.  Again,  as  the  wavering  longitudinal  line  of  Indian 
tribes,  stretching  from  Canada  to  the  Gulf,  was  pushed  from  the 
Atlantic  far  to  the  West,  it  was  in  this  vicinity  that  the  pursued  made 
one  of  their  most  valiant  stands  against  the  pursuers.  When,  there- 
fore, we  think  of  Keokuk,  possessed  of  many  manly  qualities,  fervent 
and  persuasive  in  speech,  and  loyal  to  the  last  to  the  hand  that  smote 
him ; or  when  we  think  of  Blackhawk,  who,  years  after  the  vain  strug- 
gle had  ceased,  came  yonder  to  Rock  Island,  and  as  he  brooded  over 
the  wrongs  of  his  people  and  the  cause  that  was  lost  forever,  burst 
into  passionate  tears ; or  when  we  think  of  the  Sacs  and  Foxes  who 
were  persuaded  from  their  homes  in  Illinois  by  dint  of  specious  reason- 
ing and  cheap  money  and  bad  whiskey  and  the  ever  final  and  clinching 
argument  of  the  rifle,  and  taking  their  way  to  this  western  shore  of  the 
Mississippi,  threw  themselves  wearily  and  sadly  upon  the  bosom  of  the 
prairie,  and  exclaimed,  “Iowa!”  meaning  “Here  we  find  rest!” — when 
we  thus  remind  ourselves,  it  seems  very  fitting  that  the  best  friends 
the  Indian  has  to-day  should  gather  here  to  counsel  how  they  may  help 
him  realize  the  hope  long  deferred  and  secure  to  him  the  higher  rights 
of  his  humanity. 

As  we  contemplate  the  work  of  this  Association,  we  find  that  it  has 
encouragements  and  embarrassments  as  does  every  other  line  of  mis- 
sionary endeavor  we  pursue.  Tt  is  peculiarly  true,  however,  that  some 
of  the  most  signal  encouragements  and  some  of  the  most  disheartening 
embarrassments  attending  this  work  lie  in  the  personal  natures  of  the 
beneficiaries.  It  is  a distinct  gain  that  in  our  endeavors  for  three  of 
these  peoples  we  are  met  and  aided  at  the  outset  by  their  own  good 
opinion  of  themselves.  The  Indian  may  recognize  that  his  numbers 
are  diminishing;  he  may  think  of  himself  as  caught  in  the  eddy  of  an 
on-rushing  stream ; but  he  has  no  apology  to  make  for  being  an  Indian, 
and  if  he  is  even  compelled  to  feel  that  he  is  the  last  surviving  remnant 
of  his  race,  the  pride  of  a Pontiac  or  of  a Tecumsch  will  still  throb 


4 


m his  heart.  The  Chinaman  pushes  his  way  complacently,  deter- 
minedly, asking  no  favors,  serene  in  the  consciousness  of  the  national 
stability  behind  him  which  has  remained  unshaken  for  thousands  of 
years.  The  Highlander,  American  of  Americans,  has  an  inherent 
strength  of  character  like  unto  the  strength  of  the  hills  among  which 
he  lives,  he  has  a spirit  of  freedom  in  his  soul  like  unto  the  mountain 
air  which  he  breathes;  when  he  is  virtuous  he  is  staunch  and  un- 
bending like  one  of  his  Cumberland  pines,  and  in  his  vices,  even  in  his 
moonshining,  as  one  has  described  him.  he  is  quite  capable  of  “making 
his  own  copper  still,  growing  his  own  corn,  and  brewing  his  own 
‘licker.’  ” But  the  Negro  presents  a different  type.  Docile,  submissive, 
unassertive,  held  in  the  grip  of  the  inertia  of  the  long  schooling  of 
dependency  and  improvidence,  he  finds  it  difficult  to  believe  that  his 
soul,  now  reborn  to  a new  lease  of  life  but  so  long  under  the  dominion 
of  others,  is  property  of  which  he  has  entire  control.  Moreover,  he  pre- 
sents an  embarrassment,  as  we  attempt  to  elevate  him,  which  we  meet 
in  our  dealings  with  other  races  of  color,  but  which  in  his  case  is 
especially  formidable.  It  lies  in  the  force  operating  very  widely  to-day 
and  becoming  more  and  more  in  evidence  in  many  quarters  of  the  globe. 
We  see  it  here  in  our  southern  states  more  flagrantly  perhaps  than  else- 
where: but  there  it  is  in  South  Africa,  estranging  the  Briton  and  the 
Boer  from  the  Kaffir  and  the  Zulu.  There  it  is  in  the  British  Isles, 
ever  ready  to  disturb  the  balances  between  Celt  and  Saxon.  There  it 
is  in  Western  Europe,  glaring  in  the  eyes  of  Teuton  and  Latin  as  they 
jealously  keep  vigil  over  Alsace  and  Lorraine.  There  it  is  in  the 
Balkan  Peninsula,  fanning  the  enmity  between  Slav  and  Turk  and 
giving  an  added  complexity  to  the  issues  that  portend  from  the  situa- 
tion charged  with  volcanic  possibilities.  And  there  it  is  in  the  Far  East, 
every  hour  bringing  to  whiter  heat  the  ferocious  passions  and  making 
more  deadly  and  awful  in  effect  the  terrible  enginery  employed,  as 
Causacian  and  Mongolian,  blonde  faced  Russian  and  saffron  faced  Jap 
continue  in  the  titanic  struggle  that  is  horrifying  the  world.  What- 
ever arbitration  may  achieve  through  Hague  tribunals  and  peace  con- 
gresses. thrftugh  fervent  petitions  to  presidents  and  mikados  and  czars, 
attesting  that  the  nobler  soul  of  Christendom  is  thoroughly  sick  of 
war.  even  though  it  secure  the  day  when  the  chariot  and  battle  bow  shall 


5 


entirely  be  cut  off  from  Ephraim  and  Jerusalem,  there  will  still  remain 
to  it  the  more  delicate  and  difficult  task  of  reconciling  the  antipathies 
which  are  nursed,  if  they  are  not  created,  by  differing  hues  of  com- 
plexion and  unlike  qualities  of  blood. 

Recognizing  this  element  of  seriousness,  it  is  very  natural  that  at 
such  a time  as  this  we  should  address  our  thought  particularly  to  that 
department  of  our  work  which  concerns  the  elevation  of  the  Negro 
people.  It  may  be  thought  that  in  view  of  the  many  and  divergent 
views  expressed,  often  exciting  not  a little  of  heated  feeling,  it  would 
be  wise  for  the  friends  of  this  Association  to  go  quietly  about  their 
appointed  business  and  keep  their  opinions  to  themselves.  I can  but 
think,  however,  that  it  is  one  of  the  happy  auguries  of  the  time  that 
so  much  is  being  said  and  said  so  openly  and  without  reserve. 

Nor  could  the  question  be  remanded  to  silence,  if  we  would  thus 
dispose  of  it.  The  Negro  is  here  to  stay.  However  much  others,  more 
favored  at  the  top  of  the  social  ladder,  may  incline  to  race  suicide,  he 
evinces  no  tendency  to  fall  into  that  sin.  It  is  true  that  he  increases 
less  rapidly  than  does  his  white  neighbor,  but  this  is  because  of  his 
larger  death  rate ; and  when,  heeding  the  advice  of  President  Eliot, 
given  the  other  day  at  a colored  men’s  dinner,  he  raises  up  from  his 
own  number  skilled  physicians,  this  disproportion  will  be  reversed. 
He  is  more  and  more  of  a factor  in  the  industrial  situation,  an  in- 
creasingly disturbing  element  in  the  relations  between  capital  and  labor  ; 
however  restricted  he  may  be  in  franchise,  he  enters,  sentimentally  at 
least,  as  a power  into  every  presidential  contest ; and  morally,  his  50 
per  cent,  of  ignorance  and  superstition  is  a very  sensible  drag  upon  the 
skirts  of  the  Republic. 

One  of  the  gratifying  phases  of  the  case  is  that  the  Negro  himself  is 
'at  last  stating  a solution  of  the  problem.  Of  all  the  spectacles  in  the 
world  to-day,  of  all  the  scenes  in  history,  there  is  nothing  more  dra- 
matically interesting  than  the  picture  of  the  colored  race  making  the 
discovery  of  its  long  buried  self.  For  a while  dazed  and  confused  by 
the  liberty  into  which  it  was  thrust  and  which  it  knew  not  how  to  use, 
stupefied  by  the  anodyne  of  bondage  still  lingering  in  its  blood,  it  now 
is  beginning  to  stir  from  its  lethargy  and  to  emerge  from  its  bewilder- 
ment. Wendell  Phillips  looked  upon  the  arms  of  a southern  state, 


6 


representing  a Negro  asleep  upon  a*  bale  of  cotton,  and  after  a mo- 
ment of  solemn  pondering,  he  asked : “And  what  will  the  people  do 
when  the  Xegro  wakes  up?”  At  last,  the  dawn  is  beginning  to  break, 
and  he  who  has  been  asleep,  or  groping  blindly  in  the  night,  is  coming 
forth  into  the  morning.  The  light  of  the  new  day  is  upon  his  face 
and  its  cheer  is  in  his  heart. 

It  is  a picture  infinitely  pathetic.  Someone  hearing  a singer  of  rare 
natural  power,  remarked:  "Xow,  if  she  could  only  be  made  to  suffer!” 
The  soul  quality  sometimes  missing  in  a musical  artist  is  seldom  absent 
in  the  life  melodies  and  harmonies  of  the  Xegro  people.  The  reason 
that  their  orators  often  speak  with  such  consummate  and  overwhelm- 
ing eloquence,  is  not,  I think,  that  the  Great  Bestower  has  allowed 
them  a special  portion  of  the  divine  afflatus,  but  rather  that  they  utter 
themselves,  often  almost  unconsciously,  out  of  a great  experience.  The 
plaintive  note  heard  in  the  voice  is,  as  Dunbar  so  touchingly  says,  the 
song  of  a bird  who  knows  what  it  is  to  beat  his  wings  against  the  bars. 
Xo  people  so  well  understand  the  meaning  of  the  cross,  unless  it  be 
those  exiles  wandering  over  the  face  of  the  earth  whose  fathers  nine- 
teen centuries  ago  gave  the  symbol  to  the  world,  unwittingly  converting 
it  from  a sign  of  shame  into  an  emblem  of  glory.  Think  what  it 
means  to  attempt  to  rise  in  the  world  without  any  inspiring  traditions, 
without  any  family  lineage  to  hold  one  up  to  a standard,  without  any 
portraits  of  ancestors  looking  down  upon  one  in  cheer  and  admonition. 
The  Indian  remembers  the  valor  of  many  a chieftain ; the  Chinaman 
can  never  forget  Confucius : the  Highlander  feels  the  inspiration  of 
King’s  Mountain ; the  Xegro  has  the  knowledge  that  his  roots  are 
struck  deep  in  age  long  ignominy.  Your  white  boy  sets  out  upon  his 
career  with  a hundred  voices  to  hail  and  urge  him  on.  His  race  is 
with  him,  bearing  him  up  in  its  sympathies  and  in  its  achievements  as 
the  ocean  lifts  the  ship  upon  its  bosom.  The  Xegro  boy  begins  his 
ascent  with  his  race,  as  President  Tucker  once  said  in  this  presence,  a 
drag  upon  him:  yes.  the  weight  of  the  whole  mass  he  must  lift.  If 
he  finds  some  voices  to  encourage  him,  there  are  more  voices  to  sneer 
and  bid  him  keep  his  place.  All  the  way  up  there  are  those  who  con- 
test his  right  to  rise:  and  he  knows  that  if  at  last  he  shall  succeed 
in  standing  upon  the  higher  ranges  of  attainment  he  will  be  in  an 


7 


atmosphere  that  is  chilly  indeed.  I shall  not  forget  the  statement  of 
a Negro  lady  of  much  refinement,  that  her  education  had  separated 
her  from  congenial  association  with  those  of  her  own  race  who  had  not 
enjoyed  her  advantages,  and  on  the  other  hand  had  gained  her  no  en 
trance  into  the  circles  of  those  white  people  whose  elevated  tastes  she 
shared.  Is  there  not  a cross  in  such  loneliness  as  that?  But  if  there 
is  dignity  in  bearing  the  cross ; if  it  is  true,  as  the  Apocalypse  declares 
in  the  seven-fold  refrain,  that  the  better  rewards  of  life  are  designed 
for  those  who  overcome,  then  surely  we  ought  to  take  off  our  hats  to 
these  sturdy  ones  who  against  unparalleled  odds  have  pushed  their 
way ; who  have  climbed  often  with  bleeding  fingers  and  bruised  feet, 
and  who  have  attested  in  their  victories  against  severest  competitions 
those  lines  of  Kipling  which  I have  somewhere  seen  quoted  in  their 
behalf : 

“But  there  is  neither  East  nor  West,  border,  nor  breed,  nor  birth, 

When  two  strong  men  stand  face  to  face,  though  they  come  from  the 
ends  of  the  earth.” 

An  unseemly  brawl  occurred  in  Brooklyn  the  other  day  in  the  gray 
of  the  morning  before  the  policemen  were  astir.  An  unoffending  Negro 
was  set  upon  by  three  or  four  ruffianly  white  men,  but  as  the  onslaught 
proceeded  one  of  the  attacking  party  seemed  to  be  moved  by  the  spirit 
of  fair  play,  and  calling  a halt,  he  advised  that  they  deal  one  at  a time 
with  their  victim.  When  this  order  of  battle  was  established,  the  Negro 
quickly  put  his  assailants  to  rout.  That  suggests  the  ability  to  improve 
the  “fair  chance”  which  members  of  the  colored  race  frequently  exhibit. 
And  just  what  does  the  “fair  chance”  mean?  It  signifies,  of  course,  the 
colored  man’s  liberty  to  be  himself.  If  he  can  manoeuvre  the  farm, 
dig  the  mines  and  run  the  engine;  if  he  can  plead  the  case  and  treat 
the  sick;  if  he  can  mould  his  thoughts  in  forms  of  exquisite  beauty 
and  real  power  in  verse  or  on  canvas;  if  he  can  be  the  statesman  and 
the  leader  of  men — then  there  must  be  no  hindrance  placed  to  the  exer- 
cise of  his  talents.  Thus  he  will  be  able  to  hold  up  his  head  and  to 
dictate  his  terms,  because  thus  he  will  have  made  himself  indispensable. 
But  liberty,  which  civilization  is  quite  ready — theoretically,  at  least — 


8 


to  accord  almost  everywhere  to-day,  involves  something  else  which 
civilization  is  often  more  reluctant  to  grant.  That  something  is 
equality. 

Industrial  equality — the  opportunity  to  work  on  fair  terms  and  to 
enjoy  to  the  fullest  the  harvest  of  one’s  labor. 

Educational  equality — the  opportunity  to  learn  and  to  appropriate 
the  truth  which  belongs,  like  the  air,  to  all.  It  is  to  be  lamented  that 
some  of  our  constituency  are  beginning  to  waiver  as  to  the  expediency 
of  giving  the  Negro  the  higher  education.  1 am  reminded  of  a dis- 
cussion which  occurred  recently  in  a certain  professor's  home  in  which 
there  were  two  daughters.  The  question  was  whether  girls  should  be 
sent  to  college.  One  daughter  had  already  graduated.  The  other  was 
a possible  sub-freshman.  If  you  could  know,  it  was  said,  what  your 
Sfirl  is  to  do,  whether  she  is  to  be  a breadwinner  or  to  become  the  mis- 
tress  of  a home,  you  might  better  tell  how  to  advise  her.  In  the  per- 
plexities of  the  situation,  the  professor  was  of  the  opinion  that  inasmuch 
as  you  cannot  predict  the  future  for  your  daughter,  you  must  do  the 
very  best  thing  possible  for  her  and  equip  her  in  the  most  elaborate 
fashion  that  she  may  be  well  prepared  for  every  emergency.  Who  can 
tell?  She  may  adopt  the  state  of  matrimony,  but  even  then,  it  is  just 
possible,  that  she  may  need  a very  large  fund  of  knowledge  to  supple- 
ment the  deficiencies  of  her  spouse.  We  must  all  agree  with  the  distin- 
guished and  wise  president  of  Harvard,  that  there  is  no  educational 
advantage  demanded  for  the  white  man  which  is  not  equally  demanded 
for  the  Negro;  that  if  we  are  to  have  good  primary  schools  and  good 
grammer  schools  in  either  Massachusetts  or  Alabama,  we  must  have 
good  normal  schools  and  good  colleges  in  which  to  train  the  necessary 
teachers. 

Once  more,  political  equality — the  opportunity  to  register,  to  vote, 
to  make  laws,  and  to  administer  laws.  The  Negro  cannot  justly  be 
debarred  from  any  privilege  of  citizenship,  even  from  the  emoluments 
of  office.  We  are  under  the  flag : let  us  take  the  logic  of  the  ensign.  If 
we  do  not  like  that  logic,  then  let  us  move  to  Europe.  We  are  committed 
to  the  principle  of  self  government,  and  one  of  the  cardinal  elements  of 
that  principle  is  that  the  governed  shall,  if  they  are  capable,  have  the 
right  to  become  the  governors.  Our  honored  Chief  Executive  is  the 


9 


exponent  of  the  only  righteous  creed,  when  he  declares  that  he  cannot 
take  the  position  of  closing  the  door  of  hope — which  he  says  is  the 
door  of  opportunity — to  any  man  on  account  of  his  race  or  color. 

Yet,  once  more,  social  equality;  and  there  is  a phantom  of  dread 
haunting  that  suggestion  which  is  wholly  fictional.  Social  equality  in 
the  truest  meaning  of  the  term  means  simply  that  all  sorts  and  condi- 
tions of  people  in  this  country  must  live  side  by  side  in  a spirit  of 
mutual  helpfulness  and  good  will.  It  does  not  mean  amalgamation  of 
the  colored  race  and  the  white  race.  That  never  can  be.  The  eighty- 
five  per  cent,  of  the  colored  population  who  have  sable  countenances 
will  not  incline,  as  time  goes  on,  to  transmit  more  pallor  to  the  faces 
of  their  offspring.  They  will  more  and  more  take  a pride  in  the  African 
complexion,  which,  with  the  Prince  of  Morocco  pleading  his  suit  before 
Portia,  they  will  deem  “the  shadowed  livery  of  the  burnished  sun.’’ 
There  will  be  no  intrusion  of  the  black  man  into  the  privacies  of  the 
white  man.  There  will  be  no  obliteration  of  the  classifications  of 
society  which  lie  in  the  nature  of  things.  I can  but  think  that  with  the 
lapse  of  years  the  Negro  will  become  more  and  more  distinct.  He  will 
be  segregated  by  his  own  choice.  He  will  desire  his  own  hotels,  his 
own  railway  cars — and  he  will  have  diner  and  Pullman  attached — his 
own  theatres,  and  his  own  schools.  But  what  we  contend  is,  that  no 
legislature  shall  prevent  white  children  and  black  children  from  study- 
ing together  under  the  same  roof  if  they  elect  so  to  do,  and  that  there 
shall  be  no  criticism  from  any  source  if  we  choose  to  ask  any  man  of 
whatsoever  color  or  origin  to  sit  at  our  table,  or  to  sleep  in  our  spare 
bed-room.  We  cannot  legislate  the  social  relationships.  They  are 
determined  by  influences  more  subtle  and  delicate  than  those  exerted 
by  the  state.  They  are  governed  by  other  forces  than  the  volition  of 
man.  They  are  fixed  by  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  nature’s  God.  And 
who  is  the  man  who  is  at  once  the  truest  aristocrat  and  the  truest 
democrat?  Is  he  the  one  whose  distinguishing  feature  is  that  he  has 
culture  or  wealth  or  family  connections ? No.  Rather  is  he  the  one 
who,  with  or  without  these  accessories,  is  possessed  of  the  sane  mind 
and  the  large  heart  and  the  honorable  conscience  and  the  resolute  will 
Sooner  or  later  that  man  must  find  every  door  opening  to  him : he 
must  be  laureled  and  crowned  without  regard  to  the  accident  of  his 


io 


beginnings  or  of  his  complexion,  for  as  a Negro  singer  with  prophetic 
vision  has  declared : 


“The  man  who  is  strong  to  fight  his  fight, 
And  whose  will  no  front  can  daunt, 

If  the  truth  be  truth,  and  the  right  be  right, 
Is  the  man  whom  the  ages  want.” 


This  suggests  the  ideal  some  day  to  be  realized,  the  blessed  democ- 
racy of  the  future.  We  have  to  confess  that  the  happy  consummation 
seems  yet  far  away.  Meanwhile,  we  should  evince  the  utmost  patience 
and  sympathy  toward  those  who  do  not  think  that  the  ideal  ever  can 
be  attained,  who  believe  that  it  is  wholly  impracticable  and  visionary, 
and  who  are  animated  bv  a prejudice  which  has  no  place  in  our  hearts. 
Our  colored  friend,  Mr.  Moore,  tells  of  losing  his  hat  by  theft,  while 
on  a railway  train,  and  of  being  insulted  by  a white  news  agent  who 
hailed  him  as  “Old  Baldhead.”  Let  our  brother  be  comforted  by  re- 
flecting that  he  is  in  a worthy  line  of  succession.  The  incident  brings 
to  mind  a report  from  a Sunday  school  teacher  who  recently  asked  me 
to  give  the  correct  interpretation  of  the  term,  “little  children,”  as 
applied  to  those  juveniles  who,  with  a like  salutation  railed  at  the 
prophet  Elisha  in  the  ancient  city  of  Bethel.  The  teacher  said  that  a 
certain  lesson  paper  had  declared  that  the  term  should  be  changed  to 
“hoodlums,"  but  that  the  class  had  expressed  the  judgment  that  such 
rendering  seemed  a little  over  drastic  and  that  the  punishment  which 
fell  upon  the  misguided  youth  was  rather  too  severe.  Certain  it  is,  that 
we  should  exercise  the  largest  charity  toward  those  who  see  the  situa- 
tion from  their  own  close  and  strained  relations  to  it.  The  problem 
is  one  to  be  reasoned  over,  not  to  be  fought  over.  In  all  our  attitude 
we  should  make  it  evident  that  we  feel  more  than  charity,  that  we  have 
with  our  southern  neighbors  a veritable  identity  of  interest. 

Let  us  show  in  all  the  efforts  we  put  forth  to  elevate  an  unprivi- 
leged race,  that  we  are  willing  to  take  the  brunt  of  their  condition  ; and 
not  only  so,  but  that  we  are  resolved  to  stand,  both  with  the  black  man 
and  with  his  white  neighbor;  until  together  they  are  lifted  out  of 


their  trouble,  not  forgetting  the  while  that  we  also  are  of  like  passions 
with  them. 

De  Tocqueville  tells  an  incident  in  his  visit  made  to  this  country 
seventy-five  years  ago,  which  seems  almost  like  a provision  of  the  work 
of  the  American  Missionary  Association.  He  drew  nigh  to  a plan- 
tation in  Florida,  and  as  he  sat  down  on  the  banks  of  a creek,  he  saw 
three  children  approach  One  was  an  Indian,  adorned  with  barbaric 
ornaments ; the  second  was  a negress ; and  the  third  was  a white  girl, 
the  daughter  of  the  planter.  The  Indian  freely  and  boldly,  yet  tenderly, 
caressed  the  white  child ; but  the  negress  sat  at  her  feet  timidly,  and 
gently  trying  to  gain  her  notice  and  excite  her  favor,  while  the  little 
mistress,  evidently  conscious  of  her  superior  position,  accepted  and 
reciprocated  the  attentions  of  both  her  companions  with  every  mark  of 
fond  attachment.  Thus  three  races,  says  the  writer,  evinced  their  re- 
spective characteristics  and  conditions  of  life,  and  he  feels  sure  that  the 
interplay  of  genuine  affection  among  the  trio  is  the  force  that  must  be 
relied  upon  to  inspire  and  seal  a lasting  and  happy  bond  among  three 
diverse  peoples  destined  to  live  in  proximity  to  one  another. 

Yes,  but  where  shall  this  affection  have  its  rise?  What  shall  be  the 
influence  to  create  and  foster  and  secure  it?  Can  education  be  relied 
upon  to  establish  such  friendliness?  We  cannot  forget  that  it  was  when 
France  was  in  a high  stage  of  literary  development  and  sedulous  in 
nurturing  all  the  arts  and  politeness  that  the  best  compliment  a great 
English  statesman  could  pay  her  was  that  her  vices  lost  half  their 
viciousness  by  losing  half  their  grossness.  Socrates  had  a fine  notion 
that  if  men  could  only  know  enough  they  would  be  certain  to  follow 
the  path  of  wisdom  and  honor,  and  Aristotle  believed  that  if  sufficient 
arithmetic  could  be  crowded  into  a boy’s  head  he  would  keep  to  the 
line  of  orderly  virtue.  Rut  the  centuries  have  quite  thoroughly  dis- 
proved these  assurances  of  the  ancient  sages.  Or  can  we  depend  upon 
commercial  and  industrial  facilities  to  bring  in  the  day  of  light  and 
peace  ? When  did  trade  even  humanize  a people  ? Did  it  soften  and 
ennoble  the  Indians,  when  the  Dutch,  led  by  its  impulses,  prosecuted 
their  dealings  with  the  red  men  on  Manhattan  Island?  Did  the 
Phoenicians,  those  talented  and  indefatigable  buyers  and  sellers  of 
olden  times,  improve  in  character  under  its  stimulus?  Nay,  as  George 


12 


Adam  Smith  has  pointed  out,  their  merchant  ships  went  far  and  wide 
upon  the  seas  while  they  as  a people  became  so  perfidious  and  corrupt 
th^it  Isaiah  could  only  adequately  stigmatize  them  by  that  name  which 
denotes  the  basest  traffic  in  virtue.  Trade,  left  to  its  own  instinct  is 
but  the  fierce  struggle  for  existence,  the  attempt  to  give  survival  to 
the  strongest,  the  doctrine  that  might  makes  right. 

Or  shall  we  look  to  political  doctrines  and  expedients  to  sanctify  us 
and  heal  every  wound?  I was  somewhat  sobered  in  my  optimism 
recently,  to  hear  one  of  the  foremost  diplomatists  of  the  day  declare 
that  political  life  in  America  is  more  corrupt  than  it  was  twenty-five 
years  ago,  and  to  hear  him  bring  forth  as  a witness  to  his  statement 
that  it  would  soon  be  impossible,  if  it  were  not  already  so,  for  any  man 
not  possessed  of  great  wealth  and  ready  to  spend  it  lavishly  for  the 
furtherance  of  his  ambition  to  aspire  to  a seat  in  the  United  States 
Senate.  No,  all  these  agencies  which  are  efficient  instruments  in 
bringing  in  the  fraternal  kingdom  must  utterly  fail,  must  be  as  dan- 
gerous weapons  in  the  hands  of  children  or  mad  men,  if  they  are 
not  animated  and  directed  and  controlled  by  the  deeper  impulses  of 
our  faith.  The  truth  most  requiring  to  be  recognized  on  all  sides  just 
now  is  rung  out  in  clarion  notes  by  grim  old  Tolstoi  as  he  presents 
his  awful  indictment  against  his  people  for  the  war  that  is  cursing 
them  : “The  evil  from  which  men  of  our  time  are  suffering  is  produced 
by  the  fact  that  the  majority  live  without  that  which  alone  affords  a 
rational  guidance  for  human  activity — without  religion." 

This  may  seem  a commonplace,  but  there  is  no  truth  that  we  have 
more  forgotten  of  late,  or,  at  least,  so  failed  to  utilize.  Can  there  be 
any  other  explanation  of  the  apathy  prevailing  in  the  Christian  Church  ? 
If  zeal  could  be  generated  by  splendid  equipments  of  ecclesiastical  and 
religious  machinery,  then  we  ought  to  be  fairly  ablaze  with  enthusiasm. 
What  we  are  needing  above  all  else  is  the  recovery  of  some  form  of 
real,  religious  experience.  The  revival  that  we  should  wait  for  more 
eagerly  than  they  who  wait  for  the  morning  is  the  revival  to  be  her- 
alded by  the  spiritual  note. 

It  is  fairly  claimed  that  much  of  what  the  church  counsels  and 
enjoins  is  readily  accepted  by  the  world,  that  what  we  call  the  ethics  of 
Christianity  is  sanctioned  by  multitudes  of  people  who  are  never  found 


13 


in  the  assemblage  of  the  saints.  This  being  so,  we  may  not  expect  to 
make  a very  persuasive  appeal  in  any  novelties  we  have  to  offer  in  the 
humanities  and  fraternities.  We  ministers  tell  our  people  to  be  honest, 
but  they  find  a man  next  day  in  business  who  never  darkens  the  door  of 
the  sanctuary, and  he  is  just  as  earnest  in  urging  the  obligation  and  nobly 
illustrates  it.  We  tell  them  to  be  kind  and  merciful,  but  there  are  many 
who  are  indifferent  to  the  house  of  God,  who  are  quite  as  obedient  to 
the  Golden  Rule  as  are  any  of  those  who  frequent  the  place  of  prayer. 
We  tell  them  to  be  pure,  but  all  more  decent  society  exalts  the  canons 
of  the  seventh  commandment,  and  though  it  does  not  always  ostracise 
the  offender,  in  its  heart  of  hearts  it  visits  upon  him  the  ban  of  dis- 
grace. We  contend,  of  course,  that  these  virtues  so  widely  disseminated, 
these  Christian  amenities  so  commonly  appropriated,  without  due  credit 
being  given,  are  the  outspring  of  the  Christian  church  and  of  the  Chris- 
tian gospel,  and  that  men  everywhere  have  from  these  sources  their 
main  impulse  to  usefulness  and  goodness,  taking  it  from  an  environ- 
ment bearing  innumerable  Christian  marks,  from  an  atmosphere 
charged  with  Christian  truth  and  breathed  in  with  every  breath.  But 
when  this  is  allowed,  let  us  not  forget  what  it  is  in  the  Christian  church 
and  in  the  Christian  gospel  that  is  the  real  spring  of  these  blessings. 
Those  first  disciples  did  not  deliberately  sit  down  and  resolve  to  do 
honor  and  justice  and  walk  humbly  before  Cod  and  men.  Their 
inspiration  to  the  Christian  career  of  personal  rectitude  and  benevolent 
service  was  not  found  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  but  in  the  farewell 
address  of  their  Master.  Their  initiation  into  the  Lord’s  work  was 
through  a great  religious  experience.  And  that  is  the  thing  to  be 
coveted  to-day ; the  thing  that  must  constitute  the  uniqueness  of  the 
church  if  it  is  to  have  any  uniqueness;  that  must  he  its  monopoly  upon 
which  none  can  infringe ; that  must  be  the  magnetism  of  its  appeal. 
As  a constituency  at  home,  as  an  official  administering  board,  as  actual 
laborers  in  the  field,  we  must  bring  ourselves  to  believe,  and  make  the 
conviction  thrill  in  all  our  redemptive  machinery,  that  in  our  midst, 
accompanying  us  at  every  step,  guiding  us  into  the  truth,  knitting  us 
together  in  fraternal  ties,  taking  the  things  of  Christ  and  showing  them 
unto  us,  yes,  and  bringing  Him  actually  nigh  unto  us,  is  a personal, 
divine  Spirit  whose  presence  we  can  feel,  whose  power  we  can  know. 


14 


W’e  read  in  the  book  of  the  Acts  of  a man  who  sat  in  his  chariot 
reading  a book  which  he  could  not  understand.  Significant  it  was  that 
the  passage  over  which  he  pondered  and  which  fascinated  while  it 
baffled  him  was  the  graphic  picture  of  one  who  was  likened  to  a lamb 
led  to  the  slaughter  and  to  a sheep  dumb  before  the  shearers,  for  this 
man  though  high  in  authority  in  the  service  of  his  queen  belonged  to 
a discredited  race.  And  Philip,  the  Evangelist,  drew  nigh  and  lent  his 
aid  to  the  stranger.  It  is  possible  that  the  preacher’s  interest  was  the 
greater,  because  he  was  reminded  of  a certain  noble  ancestor  of  this 
lonely  student,  who  rescued  Jeremiah  from  the  pit.  The  preacher  ex- 
plained the  mystery  of  the  passage,  and  the  inquirer,  as  the  logic  of  it 
dawned  upon  his  mind,  seized  upon  the  blessed  inference,  and  with  a 
new  hope  burning  within  him,  he  said:  “See,  here  is  water;  what  doth 
hinder  me  to  be  baptized  ?”  So  the  two  went  down  into  the  river — the 
light  skinned  Greek  and  the  dusky  Ethiopian,  the  Negro — one  in  their 
consciousness  of  sin,  one  in  their  recognized  need  of  cleansing,  one  in 
their  reliance  upon  a power  more  than  human,  one  in  the  baptism  of  the 
Spirit.  Let  us  of  this  great  American  Missionary  Association  be 
mediators  of  that  baptism,  that  the  peoples  whom  we  seek  to  help,  red, 
yellow,  black  and  white,  may,  together  with  us,  be  brought  unto  the 
stature  of  that  collective  man  whom  the  great  Apostle  describes,  in 
whom  there  shall  be  neither  Greek,  nor  Jew,  Barbarian,  Scythian,  bond 
nor  free,  but  Christ  shall  be  all  and  in  all. 


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